Hello!
I know this is a very long post but I tried to be as informative as possible and really appreciate any advice-
TLDR: I bought a bearded dragon about four? months ago, not entirely knowing what I was getting into, I am updating their diet and setup and need advice. I know their current setup isn’t great and I wish I had realized that sooner. They turn one year old this July. I have included a recent photo of them. His name is Tony!
THE BEGINNING:
I am a college student who decided a bearded dragon would be the best dorm pet. While I have had scorpions and fish for most of my life I didn't initially realize that a bearded dragon would be such a big jump. I adopted a juvenile bearded dragon off of Facebook marketplace. I realized right away that something was wrong with its legs, but as the owner was trying to get rid of them quickly and I wanted to help the animal I went through with the purchase. The bearded dragon was originally purchased by that person from Petco, and they were kept by the previous owner in around a 20-gallon tank with a coil UVB, a good heat lamp, and a diet of greens and calcium-dusted roaches (however due to their size and weight I think they were eating too many greens and not enough bugs even though the owner had good intentions).
HEALTH CONDITIONS:
Basically when I pick Him up his back legs will go completely stiff and they can't bend them back for a few minutes, they still run, hunt, and climb but their movements are slightly uncoordinated at times, it looks like they have poor mind-muscle coordination. I immediately thought of MBD but they don't have any ridges or notches in their backs or tails, they don't have a slack jaw, and their bones do not seem soft or "squishy". I brought them to be examined by my most trusted local bearded dragon breeder who also treats and rescues bearded dragons with MBD, they said the dragon looked healthy and maybe had MBD at a young age that they have since recovered from. He did note though that he seemed a little undersized for his age.
CURRENT CARE:
Since I have had them they have definitely outgrown the 39-gallon fishtank I had at my house, as well as gained a healthy amount of weight, and their muscle coordination seems to have improved somewhat with the extra calcium in their diet. They again have a coil UVB and a 100-watt Fluker heat lamp, both are sitting on top of a screen and he has an elevated basking spot. I have however realized this setup is not ideal or sufficient.
Currently, they have daily access to a kale greens mix I buy at the store, and (I know it's not great) but I have been feeding them mostly superworms in moderation for the past week because the pet stores near me have been constantly out of crickets. I also keep some pellets in their cage in a bowl because I work all day and worry about them going hungry and they appear to enjoy the dried mealworms as a snack from time to time.
CURRENT/CARE A HARROWING BATH EXPERIENCE
They used to get a bath every week where they would drink a lot, but last bath he appeared to have a seizure, (it was shallow enough that all their toes touched) and they rolled over on their back completely stiff and started inhaling half the bathtub before I could fish them out in a panic. They were completely white and with black beard and weren't breathing, I did CPR on their back and mouth to mouth through the nostrils for over three minutes and they started breathing, I then held them upside down and swooped them towards the ground where they a great deal of slime and water came gushing out of their mouth and nose, I then brought them slowly back into the air and repeated. They sat the rest of the day on a heating pad under close supervision. They don't seem to be suffering any after-effects and this was a month ago.
After doing research all I could find was not to interrupt them during or directly after drinking, which I already knew not to do, so I'm not entirely sure why this happened.
THE PLANNED TANK SETUP:
The original plan was to get a 40-gallon breeder for him to live in as that is what everyone I ever asked recommended, however, I recently learned that is not big enough for a full-grown adult?
Since I’ve realized the UVB is not correct and that the tank is too small, I am ordering them the 120-gallon reptile habitat from dubia.com. I then am going to order them the Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 HO T5 UVB Lamp, 22" L, 24 Watts, and the hood that goes with it as I heard it’s best for the UVB to only cover half the tank so they can avoid it if they wish. I was then going to upgrade to a 150-watt heat lamp as well (any brand suggestions would be appreciated). This is a BIG investment for me as a college student but I really want to do right with Beardie and treat them as I would someone who is going to spend possibly up to 10 years in my life. It’s just very important to me that I at least spend my money on the correct habbitat which is why I am asking you fine people of Reddit.
THE PLANNED UPDATED DIET:
I am hoping to feed them a mix of dubias, greens, and superworms, twice a day as many as they want to eat (they are still a little underweight and undersized I believe). Maybe some crickets too depending on when I get to the store if they have any. But I heard dubias are better than crickets? All insects would be dusted with calcium, however, I heard they aren’t supposed to have calcium with D3 every day? This is something I am confused about as the answers seem very mixed from source to source? Any advice would be appreciated!
Thank you again!
I know this is a very long post but I tried to be as informative as possible and really appreciate any advice-
TLDR: I bought a bearded dragon about four? months ago, not entirely knowing what I was getting into, I am updating their diet and setup and need advice. I know their current setup isn’t great and I wish I had realized that sooner. They turn one year old this July. I have included a recent photo of them. His name is Tony!
THE BEGINNING:
I am a college student who decided a bearded dragon would be the best dorm pet. While I have had scorpions and fish for most of my life I didn't initially realize that a bearded dragon would be such a big jump. I adopted a juvenile bearded dragon off of Facebook marketplace. I realized right away that something was wrong with its legs, but as the owner was trying to get rid of them quickly and I wanted to help the animal I went through with the purchase. The bearded dragon was originally purchased by that person from Petco, and they were kept by the previous owner in around a 20-gallon tank with a coil UVB, a good heat lamp, and a diet of greens and calcium-dusted roaches (however due to their size and weight I think they were eating too many greens and not enough bugs even though the owner had good intentions).
HEALTH CONDITIONS:
Basically when I pick Him up his back legs will go completely stiff and they can't bend them back for a few minutes, they still run, hunt, and climb but their movements are slightly uncoordinated at times, it looks like they have poor mind-muscle coordination. I immediately thought of MBD but they don't have any ridges or notches in their backs or tails, they don't have a slack jaw, and their bones do not seem soft or "squishy". I brought them to be examined by my most trusted local bearded dragon breeder who also treats and rescues bearded dragons with MBD, they said the dragon looked healthy and maybe had MBD at a young age that they have since recovered from. He did note though that he seemed a little undersized for his age.
CURRENT CARE:
Since I have had them they have definitely outgrown the 39-gallon fishtank I had at my house, as well as gained a healthy amount of weight, and their muscle coordination seems to have improved somewhat with the extra calcium in their diet. They again have a coil UVB and a 100-watt Fluker heat lamp, both are sitting on top of a screen and he has an elevated basking spot. I have however realized this setup is not ideal or sufficient.
Currently, they have daily access to a kale greens mix I buy at the store, and (I know it's not great) but I have been feeding them mostly superworms in moderation for the past week because the pet stores near me have been constantly out of crickets. I also keep some pellets in their cage in a bowl because I work all day and worry about them going hungry and they appear to enjoy the dried mealworms as a snack from time to time.
CURRENT/CARE A HARROWING BATH EXPERIENCE
They used to get a bath every week where they would drink a lot, but last bath he appeared to have a seizure, (it was shallow enough that all their toes touched) and they rolled over on their back completely stiff and started inhaling half the bathtub before I could fish them out in a panic. They were completely white and with black beard and weren't breathing, I did CPR on their back and mouth to mouth through the nostrils for over three minutes and they started breathing, I then held them upside down and swooped them towards the ground where they a great deal of slime and water came gushing out of their mouth and nose, I then brought them slowly back into the air and repeated. They sat the rest of the day on a heating pad under close supervision. They don't seem to be suffering any after-effects and this was a month ago.
After doing research all I could find was not to interrupt them during or directly after drinking, which I already knew not to do, so I'm not entirely sure why this happened.
THE PLANNED TANK SETUP:
The original plan was to get a 40-gallon breeder for him to live in as that is what everyone I ever asked recommended, however, I recently learned that is not big enough for a full-grown adult?
Since I’ve realized the UVB is not correct and that the tank is too small, I am ordering them the 120-gallon reptile habitat from dubia.com. I then am going to order them the Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 HO T5 UVB Lamp, 22" L, 24 Watts, and the hood that goes with it as I heard it’s best for the UVB to only cover half the tank so they can avoid it if they wish. I was then going to upgrade to a 150-watt heat lamp as well (any brand suggestions would be appreciated). This is a BIG investment for me as a college student but I really want to do right with Beardie and treat them as I would someone who is going to spend possibly up to 10 years in my life. It’s just very important to me that I at least spend my money on the correct habbitat which is why I am asking you fine people of Reddit.
THE PLANNED UPDATED DIET:
I am hoping to feed them a mix of dubias, greens, and superworms, twice a day as many as they want to eat (they are still a little underweight and undersized I believe). Maybe some crickets too depending on when I get to the store if they have any. But I heard dubias are better than crickets? All insects would be dusted with calcium, however, I heard they aren’t supposed to have calcium with D3 every day? This is something I am confused about as the answers seem very mixed from source to source? Any advice would be appreciated!
Thank you again!
